Got some new cragars need help

I picked up some 15x7 crager s/s today off craigslist 4" backspace. They have 225/75/15's on them which are too tall for the front.
I was thinking of switching to a 205/70/15 tire size. I like the stance of econopoors pickup but he has 14 inch rims. I want a flat (not jacked up in the rear)
look, low as possible while still filling the wells good. Wider in the back would be ok too. Any suggestions for me?

Oh and if anybody in Denver is looking for a set of new 225/75/15s Hankook let me know.
Thanks.
Mike/Denver/62 econopickup

Well, I'm running a 205-70-14 on my truck. That's about 25 1/4" tall. You can put some numbers in the tire calculator and find something pretty close to that. Carl is running a 195-65-15 on his truck without any problems. I think that is just a little shorter than my tire.

Good choice on the Cragers S/S. They look great on our trucks. Keep them waxed and they will look great for a long time.

Duane in Tennessee.

It looks like the 195-65-15 are 25" tall. Would it be worth it to get 205-65-15 to get the half inch extra tread width? It also makes the tire 25.5" tall. Do you have a pic of Carl's setup or what is his forum name so I can search it out.
Duane, what are you running on your spring setup? Your pickup sits just right for my taste.
I put the rims on one side with the 225/75/15 it would almost work if I rolled the front of the front fender, but it sits all high like one of those donks....haha
Mike/Denver

This is a shot I took of Carl's 67 van at the Midsouth Meet last Laborday. He has a little more rake than I do. I like this stance a lot. Actually I want my truck to sit just a little higher in the rear so I can run a bigger tire.

Carl goes by crowen57 on the site. He has a thread on his truck in the members gallery.

My springs are a bit of a story on their own. My truck is a 61 3/4 ton pickup. Not sure what this means with the springs as they look just like all the others I have. I think early load rates were based on tires. 4 plys, 6 plys, and 8 plys set load rates more than springs. My truck came with 13" tires for what it's worth. I still have the stock rear springs in it. I swapped out the front for a pair from a 65 Heavyduty van with a 240. I removed the little overload leaf from the stack when I put them in. I'm pretty happy with the ride. With two in the cab it's fine. With three in the cab it will hit bump stops at times.

Hope this helps.

Duane in Tennessee

I dont believe the 4 inch offset is gonna work. Econolines came stock with zero offset and you cant deviate too far from that without hitting something. You better check that out first.

Hi Tim,
I believe he has between a zero or negative 1" offset wheel. He said it's a 15x7 with a 4" backspace. That should put the bolt face at the outside of the centerline. It should be just fine. Offset is the distance of the mounting flange from the centerline. Backspace is the distance from the rear lip of the wheel to the mounting flange. Unless I misunderstood him he's good. I know Crager made some severe negative offset wheels but I don't think that's what we have here.

Duane in Tennessee.

I know mine is a chevy but I was running 195/65/15 on the front and just put on 205/65/15's and it truly rides better. Bill

econopoor wrote:Hi Tim,
I believe he has between a zero or negative 1" offset wheel. He said it's a 15x7 with a 4" backspace. That should put the bolt face at the outside of the centerline. It should be just fine. Offset is the distance of the mounting flange from the centerline. Backspace is the distance from the rear lip of the wheel to the mounting flange. Unless I misunderstood him he's good. I know Crager made some severe negative offset wheels but I don't think that's what we have here.

Duane in Tennessee.

Duane, I misunderstood what he said. I was thinking offset but he clearly wrote backspace so its my error. Thanks for catching that.

yeah guys, they have 4" backspacing not offset and I measured the backspacing from the mounting surface to the very outside of the rim not the bead so they are basically center, maybe a tad of offset. I put them on and they clear everything as far as the wheels go. Where are the problem spots where they may contact on the front and back? I think I may go with the 205/65/15 just to have a bit more tire, plus it will only be 1/4" more off the ground. I was tempted to run the 225/75/15 in the rear for now with a crazy rake. But I'm seeing a couple buy three get one free deals around town. Any recommendations on a quality "economic" tire.
Thanks for all the pics and advice.

Now I know why my ears were burning earlier this evening!!!

I've got 195/65-15 fronts and 205/65-15 rears, all on 6" wide rims. The springs are from a heavy duty. We took the second longest leaf from the front.

Hope this helps.

How many springs are in the front and rear stock? Do you guys know what the stock arch is? Ive read that you can have them dearched 2" from stock the local spring shop probably knows but I want to make sure were on the same page. Is 2" to much or can you go lower? Sorry for all the questions, dig the van Carl.

Mike/Denver/62 econoline pickup

235/60-15 rear & 205/60-15 front on stock springs with no issues. I too want to lower the front a little, maybe 2", for a better rake.

Abeblinkin wrote:How many springs are in the front and rear stock? Do you guys know what the stock arch is? Ive read that you can have them dearched 2" from stock the local spring shop probably knows but I want to make sure were on the same page. Is 2" to much or can you go lower? Sorry for all the questions, dig the van Carl.

Mike/Denver/62 econoline pickup

Regarding the number of spings, my '67 window van had 5 leaves front and rear, the '67 Heavy Duty window van that I pulled the springs from for my '66 had 6 leaves front and rear. Thanks for the kuddos!

Hey Mike,

Whatever you take out of the arch is how much it will lower it. Take out two inches and thats how much it will lower the truck. Changing the arch does not change the spring rates. Just the ride height. Measure how high it is now. You can add weight to the truck untill it is where you want it then measure the height. The difference is how much you will want to de-arch your springs.

Hope this helps,

Duane in Tennessee.

I got in Duane. How much distance to the bump stops can one get away with?
The local spring guy said 180 per pair and that includes replacing one spring and arching them to the desired height as well as new u bolts. My econo came to me with 6 springs in the rear and 5 in the front has a 9 inch rear I believe as well.
But I cant really see where they would of pulled a spring out of the front so I believe someone put the rear end and the springs in later. When I was working on the truck tonight I noticed a previous paint job flashing through in the light apparently the truck belonged to a custom water bed place at one point. I called the number but no service. Haha

Just got some Cragar SS 14" with 225/60/14 tires. my van is in the paint shop so I can't see the offset. They came off a 70 mustang so I just assumed the offset would be ok for my 65 E van. Anybody know? The Americas Tire guy said the wheels for the mustang were 5 on 5" spacing? I think my stock econoline is 4 or 4.5? Not sure if these are going to work?

hbsurfdave wrote:Just got some Cragar SS 14" with 225/60/14 tires.  my van is in the paint shop so I can't see the offset.  They came off a 70 mustang so I just assumed the offset would be ok for my 65 E van.  Anybody know?  The Americas Tire guy said the wheels for the mustang were 5 on 5" spacing?  I think my stock econoline is 4 or 4.5?  Not sure if these are going to work?

You should be just fine. Mustangs have a 5 on 4.5 bolt circle just like our Econolines. I'm running 235/60/14's on a 7 inch wide wheel my 67 with no problems.



Duane in Tennessee.

Thanks Duane, I just got concerned because the Tire guy said the 70 mustang was 5 on 5

hbsurfdave wrote:Thanks Duane, I just got concerned because the Tire guy said the 70 mustang was 5 on 5

Maybe he meant 5 nuts on five studs!

Ford did have a 5 on 5 pattern but never on Mustangs. All 5 lug Mustangs were 4 1/2.

Duane

Thanks again. Ill try them out next week

Hi guys/gals. I am new here, just purchased my first vintage van and I’m excited to fix it up with my dad. He had a 1969 Dodge A100 during the 1970s and I now have a 1965 Dodge A100. So happy to finally find one at a decent price and he is super excited to finally have one we can work on together! My first question is; what size Cragers should I get if I want that classic hot rod look, bigger in the back than in the front stance. I have no clue where to began finding this info out. I don’t know what size tires to get, or what size crager mag to get. Can anyone show me the way to making my van look as bad ass as y’all’s? Your time is appreciated very much!

Very respectfully,

Matt

Here is my tire story!

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t54255-max-tire-wheel-sizes